A photo diary of my individual or volunteer hikes/patrols on Old Rag Mountain.
Note 1: My writings are personal expressions and should not be taken as official positions of any of the organizations I have volunteered for.
Note 2: Double click pictures for higher resolution.
Note 3: Clicking on any of the labels in the Labels List will bring up blog posts labeled with that label.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Old Rag Lower Lot In December

For those who were here during the peak of fall leaf season (when the lot has 250 cars and the next door neighbor's pasture contains 100 overflow cars) take a look at the lot as seen around 3PM Saturday December 13, 2008.

WINTER SINGS A SPECIAL SONG

Up on the trail, naked trees reveal more views but the colors of Spring's flowers, Summer's greens and Fall's blaze are replaced by a pallet of thousands of greys. Winter on Old Rag resonates with its own special beauty.

BE DILIGENT

Spread these cars' passengers across the mountain and you have a lot more privacy but you may have to wait a long time for help from a fellow hiker. Patches of frozen ice make the Ridge Trail more challenging and easier to get hurt on. The lack of a large number of fellow hikers adds new meaning to the concept of self-rescue. Assuming a party member can go for help, a non-ambulatory injury in the middle of the Ridge Trail will probably have to wait six hours for first responders and 15 hours for extraction.

RECORD MOONLIGHT

Saturday night the sky was mostly clear and the almost full moon was the closest and brightest it will be in years. The moon shadows were sharp and you could see individual trees in the woods 200 feet away, individual leaves and twigs on the trail and even ripples on the water of streamlets.